The Walking Dead Journey
by theblainestorm
Summary: Lee Everett was a convicted killer on his way to prison his life was over,but after a fatal car crash he wakes up in a different world then the one he knew. In this world where corpses walk around eating people he is given a second chance. He meets Rick Grimes an officer who was shot and together they meet new people and Journey around the world. Inspired by A New Day Gone Bye.
1. A New Day

The Walking Dead Journey Volume/Season/Episode 1 The Journey Begins

Lee Everett looked around outside the car he was in he saw the sun shining trees passing by fast almost as if they were moving,the birds sung in front of the sun upon those trees. Normally Lee would find this sight beautiful but right now he was in the back of a cop car,driving through Macon,with an old white man sitting in the front,occasionally looking at Lee in the mirror,the man saw Lee's black skin and blacker hair and beard.

Why was Lee in a cop car? Because he caught his wife cheating on him with a man. Lee killed him,but it just so happen that the man was a state senator.

"Well I rekon you didn't do it then" The officer suddenly said.

"Why do you say that?" Lee replied back,looking up at the mirror of the car to see his face.

"Usually bout now I get the I didn't do it" The officer explained.

"Not from me" Lee said just above a whisper.

"Yeah,I can see that" Just then a car drove by the empty street stopping the conversation for about ten seconds.

"I remember this one guy he was the worst one soft tender eyes behind a pair of smart folk glasses he was crying and snotting all over right where you're sitting all while crying out for his mama mama it's all a big mistake it wasn't me" He said mocking the guy Lee for some reason felt sympathy for the man the officer was talking about.

"Maybe he was innocent" Lee suggested.

"INNOCENT" The police officer yelled as if it personally offended him. "They caught the fucker red handed stabbing his wife cutting her up as the boys came through the door,he sits in MY car screaming bloody murder it wasn't him think he actually believed it himself,just goes to show people will often go mad when they believe their life is over"

Lee pondered his words thinking about what he said thirty seconds passed before the officer spoke up once again.

"I followed up on your case you being from Atlanta and all" Lee jumped up almost hitting his head on the roof of the car.

"You're from Atlanta then" Lee said quickly.

"Yea moved down to Macon about three years ago,always wanted to work a murder case kinda like that mess you got yourself caught up in" Lee frowned and stayed silent,something that clearly annoyed the officer.

"I heard you worked at UGA,you teach there long?" the officer asked.

"Going on my sixth year" Lee replied as if he would ever go to work again.

"You meet your wife in Atlanta?" He asked Lee frowned again the officer looked at Lee in the mirror.

Lee looked down sadly.

"You wanna know I see it?" He asked as Lee looked out the window.

"I got much choice?" Lee asked with a sigh.

"Nope not really" The officer replied. "Seems like you just married the wrong woman" That got lee angry but he managed to hold back his tongue and only growl.

"I got another good story for you this ones more funny than sad it's about this guy who robbed a bank with a water gun you see…".

Lee was barely paying attention when he saw a semi speeding towards the car,a drunk driver most likely. Lee screamed "HOLY SHIT!" when the semi hit the car he remembers his body swaying around like a rag doll,seeing blood and broken glass and then it went dark.

 **1 month earlier**

Rick Grimes was a sheriffs deputy and was on break in his cop car with his best friend Shane Walsh sharing an order of fries on the ketchup of a half eaten burger. Rick had short brown hair with sideburns and talked with an extreme southern accent. Shane had slightly longer black hair and had a faint beard and while he talked with a southern accent it was less southern than his friend's.

"What's the difference between men and women?" Shane asked seemingly out of the blue.

"The junk" Rick replied while eating a fry.

"No man I'm serious what is the difference between men and women in the mindset how they would react to different things I thought you would know since you're with Lori all the time?" Shane explained.

Rick thought about the question for a minute and replied "Well I don't know about men and women in general but last night Lori was yelling at me and said that don't even care about her and Carl when Carl was right their I know that I would never say that to her especially in front of Carl".

Shane looked at Rick with sympathy. Then smiled. "Hey at least she's not cheating on you with a state senator" They both laughed at the inside joke.

Suddenly the radio went on and told them to go to a location.

"Alright man lets go" Rick said while starting the car as he was the the one in the drivers seat and as they were driving Shane through the bag of food in a trash can.

When they got there their were two other officers who had already set up spikes on the ground just then they saw a car speeding through.

"Alright everybody positions" Shane yelled quickly. As they did the car hit the spikes,the driver tried to swerve away but ended up crashing in the grass.

Then they all took out their guns and pointed at the car,waiting for someone to get out.

Nothing.

"GET OUT OF THE CAR" Rick yelled impatiently

Then a man with no hair on top of his head but had wild sideburns emerged from car. This guy just robbed a bank but it looked like he just walked out of the woods with his pig wife.

"Get down on the ground!" One of the other officers commanded.

The man looked up with a crazed look in his eyes. He pulled a shotgun seemingly out of nowhere and began firing at the four men "YOU WON"T TAKE ME ALIVE!" The man yelled as Rick and Shane ducked behind their police cruiser.

"We're sitting ducks like this" Rick said in frustration.

"I AIN'T GOIN' BACK! The man yelled again. "I'LL DIE FIRST!"

"This guy's insane" Shane stated the obvious.

"That's a safe bet" Rick responded. He turned to Shane. "I'm going to try to flank him,cover me alright"

"Okay" Shane replied then Shane started shooting at him while rick ran around him but then the guy noticed Rick and shot him in the only place where his bullet proof vest wasn't covering and rick fell to the ground.

"RIC!K" Shane yelled in fear for his friend. Shane shot a flurry of bullets at the and one managed to get him in the head,killing him. "HE'S HIT" Shane yelled as he ran over to Rick,closely followed by the other two officers,one of which was holding his bloody shoulder.

"You're going to be alright buddy" Shane said unsure of what he said Rick's vision was blurring as he laid there in pain. Shane's voice was starting to become more quiet and more distant. Then it went dark.


	2. Days Gone Bye

Walking dead journey episode 1 the journey begins

2 months later

Lee opened his eyes looking at the white ceiling of the hospital he looked around the room there was a lot of white. A desk was up against the wall and although he couldn't see out of it he could see a window in the corner of his eye.

The weird thing was that there were no doctors or nurses or really anyone. _Where is everybody?_ Lee thought. He tried to get up from the hospital bed but was stopped by the fact that he was hand cuffed to the bed only the did he notice the key on the sidebar of the hospital bed. _Why would they just leave the key here? he thought._ He didn't want to uncuff himself and get in more trouble than he already was.

"Hello anybody there?" he called out,no answer. He waited for five minutes until he decided he needed to know where everybody was so he uncuffed himself and got up.

As soon as got up he fell down with a grunt.

"Thirsty" he mumbled to himself as he got up. He went up to the door and could only open it up a little as there was a bed in front of the door.

"What the?" he wondered out loud _What the hell happened here?_ He thought.

Rick was opening his eyes when he saw Shane looming over the hospital bed he was in,holding some flowers.

"Hey Rick" Shane said in a faint and echoey voice.

"Just came to visit you,everybody at the station is rooting for you sheriff Hunter even gave you a few days off when you wake up,and don't worry Lori and Carl are fine,oh brought you some flowers (He then put them on the table) well see yea I guess".

He then walked off. Rick then looked over at the table and saw that the flowers had were now black and dry "SHANE" he called out.

"SHANE COME BACK I'M AWAKE" He waited and no one came.

Rick got up and yelled "SHANE,DOCTOR,ANYBODY!" he opened the door but it was because of a bed in front of the door he squeezed through the door and walked around the hospital.

"Where is everybody?" he thought out loud.

Lee picked up a phone and tried calling 911 but it wouldn't work.

"God dammit" he said quietly when suddenly a man came out of nowhere making him jump.

"Who are you?" Rick asked the urban man.

Lee was glad to see someone and introduced himself.

"I'm Lee Ev.." Lee stopped himself he was a convicted killer this guy probably knew who he was he could not tell him his last name .

"I'm Lee" Rick thought it was weird he didn't say his last name but didn't mention it.

"I'm Rick Grimes.

"Do you know what happened here?"

Lee asked Lee noticed that Rick had a patient outfit so he was not a doctor.

"No I actually just woke up from a coma you see I'm a cop and I was shot while on duty" Lee was surprised that this man was also in a coma but took notice that he was a cop.

"I was also in a coma I was in a car crash" Lee figured he could tell him that.

"Really did you happen to see someone named Shane?"

"No" Lee replied.

"Damn"

Suddenly they heard the cafeteria door down the hall up some stairs shake they both looked at the door.

"What the fuck?" Lee said.

"Shane is that you?" Rick called out no answer.

Lee and Rick walked towards the door up the stairs and noticed it had a lock and something kept banging on it they were both breathing heavy they only the noticed that parts of the roof of the hospital were missing with trees branches going through them the ground was dirty with dirt and something dark red Rick inspected the red liquid and was shocked to learn what it was.

"Blood!?"

Lees eyes widened when he heard what it was.

"Why the hell is blood here? I mean I know it's a hospital but why is blood in front of the cafeteria".

"I have no fucking clue" Rick said then the door banged again loud making them both jump.

"We need to find out what is behind that door" Rick said "I agree" Lee said Rick went up unlocked and opened the door and they were both horrified to see what they did.

Things that looked like humans even wearing clothes some even had hair but their skin was rotten their eyes were dark and they made this gurgling sound some made other sounds some had white skin some had black skin some looked like men others looked like women but they all had one thing in common they were all horrifying.

Rick and Lee were speechless and completely shocked one of the creatures in the front lunged at rick and they both fell down the stairs.

"RICK!" Lee yelled. As they were falling the creature hit its head exposing its brain and it stopped moving. Rick was disgusted and almost threw up but was able to hold it back and then realized that the cafeteria door was still open.

"LEE CLOSE THE DOOR".

"Okay" Lee said and was able to lock and close the door before any more of the monsters got out.

Lee then got the thing off of Rick and they were both gasping for air as the monsters were banging on the door.

"What were those things"? Lee asked .

"I don't know but what I do know is that we have to get the hell out of here" Rick stated.

"Yea okay" Lee agreed.

They were able to find the door and open it and as they were struck by the blinding light of day they started to look around the grass long as if it had not been cut in years.

"So Rick what's the plan" Lee asked.

"I need to get to Macon to find my wife and kid" Rick answered "I need to know that they're safe".

"Well Macon is pretty close to here maybe half a mile".

Then a little blonde girl walked by with her back turned to them. "Hey little girl" Lee called to her.

"Little girl I'm a police officer" Rick added then the girl turned around and was one of those thing! The two of them were tearing up about the fact that a little girl could become one of those creatures.

They ran away when they saw she was coming towards them then Rick felt a groping on his leg and saw one of those monsters was groping his leg or rather the top half of one then they saw two bikes and went to grab them.

"LETS GO" Lee shouted as they got on them and rode off.


	3. What The World Has Become

The Walking dead journey/volume/season episode 1 the journey begins

2 months into apocalypse (fall)/(autumn)

Hello readers this is chapter 3 of my story enjoy

Lee and Rick had just arrived in Macon and ditched their bikes and going towards Ricks house when Lee heard a thud.

"What?" Lee said as he heard it

"What is it?" Rick asked

"I heard something"

"It was probably just the wind"

"I should check it out"

"Okay but I have to get to my house so we will have to split up"

"I will come find you after I check it out" Lee said as they split up.

Lee went to the backyard of the house where he heard the noise and noticed a hammer of the ground this must be what made the noise he thought then he noticed a treehouse and yelled "HEY ANYBODY UP THERE?!" no answer Lee then noticed a tea set on the ground and jokingly said "I would fill that with some bourbon if I could.

Lee then pounded on the see through doors "Hello anybody in there? Did you drop this hammer"? When no answer came he knew he had to go in.

"I'm coming in okay don't shoot I'm not an intruder or one of them" He said as he came in.

Lee looked around the house and saw a bunch of blood in the kitchen and made sure to scoot past it while going in he looked through the kitchen until he found a walkie talkie "This might be useful" then he heard a beeping.

"What's that?" He then went over to the answering machine and saw that there were four new messages so he played them.

"Hey Sandra" A female voice said "It's Diana I just wanted to tell you we might be coming back a little late but I promise we will be back in time for your spring break so bye"

The second message started.

"Oh god I don't know if you tried to reach us all the phone lines are down and they won't tell us anything about Macon and they keep talking about Atlanta just make sure Clementine's safe"

The third message started "Sandra" This time the woman was crying.

"Ed's in the hospital this crazy guy bit him and he looks really bad I'm sorry I have to get back to him".

The final message started this time the woman was crying even more "Clementine baby if can hear this call the police that's 911 we love you, we love you we love y-the message was cut off."

Lee was almost crying as he was looking at a picture of a little girl with her mom and dad.

"Daddy?" lee heard come from the walkie talkie it was a little girls voice.

"Hello" Lee said into the walkie.

"You're not my daddy" the girl sounded disappointed.

"No I'm not, what's your name?" Lee asked changing the subject.

"My names Clementine" the same girl the woman was talking about lee thought.

"Where are your parents?" Lee asked even through he's pretty sure he knows.

"In Savannah where the boats are".

"How old are you?" he asked as he went back in the kitchen once again scooting around the blood.

"Eight" Lee was shocked.

"And you're all alone?"

"Yea"

"Are you safe?" Lee asked he was really worried.

"Yea I'm hiding in my treehouse where they can't get in".

"That's smart" Lee said and he meant it.

"Can you see me?" she said as she stuck her head out they waved at each other when suddenly Clementine screamed so lee turned around there was one of those things.

Lee grabbed it by it's wrist and pushed it back and ran away but slipped in the blood and hit his head on the counter. His vision became blurry and by the time it stopped the creature was already on top of him luckily he was able to kick it away but while getting up it grabbed his leg and made him fall down again this time in front of the door and got on top of him as he was doing that the door opened reveling clementine holding the hammer that fell on the ground earlier.

"Here" she said scared lee took it and while not wanting to take another life but he had to. Lee stuck the sharp end of the hammer in the neck of the monster. And while dark blood did come out the thing kept going.

"What the?" Lee said confused just then a black man came and shot the creature in the head with a pistol making it stop moving.

Lee pushed the monster off and looked at the man.

"Why did you do that"? the man asked.

"What?" Lee was confused.

"Do what?"

"Stab it in the neck you know you can only take them down if you go for head".

"Well actually no you see I woke up today in a hospital" Lee explained.

"Really?!".

"Well then I have a lot to teach you come with me I can take you and your daughter to my house".

"She's not my daughter" Lee corrected him "I found her here"

The man looked at clementine "You've been all by yourself through this?"

"Yes" Clementine said the man was disbelief that a little girl could survive two months into this all by herself .

"Well come on I will take both of you to my house".

"I'm Lee this is Clementine what's your name"? Lee asked the man.

"Morgan Jones" the man answered.

Rick was running towards his house and when he got there he immediately opened the door looking through the entire house all while screaming "LORI! CARL!"

When he realized that they were not there his legs seemed to gave out he was crying on the floor screaming "LORI!...CARL! almost sounding like coral.

He then wondered outside and fell on the grass he laid there for a little while before he heard a gunshot and then saw what he thought was Lee coming towards him. Then he was hit in the head with a shovel.

"Daddy! I got this son of a bitch" A little black boy said then Morgan,Lee and Clementine came around the corner and Morgan shot the creature that Rick thought was Lee and went over to the little boy.

"Duane this man's alive".

Lee was confused "What of course He's alive he was moving right?"

"You have a lot to learn" Morgan said "But first help me get him inside" he said talking about Rick.

"Carl" Rick mumbled.


	4. What They Are

The walking dead journey episode 1 the journey begins

2 months into apocalypse (fall)/(autumn)

Rick woke up in a house on a bed he looked around and saw that the house had brown walls and several paintings hanging on the wall. He looked over and saw a little black boy and a little girl coloring at a small table

"About time you woke up" Rick heard an unfamiliar voice say. Rick looked over where he heard the voice and saw his friend Lee and a man beside him.

"Who's he?" Rick asked

"This is Morgan and his son Duane" Lee answered motioning to the man and the little boy

Rick looked over at the little girl coloring with Duane "What about her?"

"This is Clementine I found her in that house"

"Hi" Clem said to Rick.

"Lee tells me you were a police officer that was shot while on duty that true"? Morgan asked.

Rick nods

"Good thing Lee was there If he wasn't I probably would have thought that gunshot wound was a bite and would have shot you."

"A bite?" Rick asked.

"From what?" Lee also asked.

"From the walkers" Morgan answered.

"Walkers"? Lee asked.

"Those were the monsters chasing you guys out there" Duane answered.

"They're really scary" Clementine added.

"So tell me Morgan what are those walkers where did they come from" Rick asked

"Yea I want to know too" Lee added

"The walkers are corpses dead people walking around" Morgan answered.

Rick and Lee were speechless.

"Wh- uh,no" Lee said unable to think and sat down.

"Well how does this happen"? Rick asked

"I don't know but I do know this,if you get bitten or scratched by one then you get sick REALLY sick and then you die and after you die you come back as one of them"

Rick and Lee could not believe this the dead walking!

"I made dinner downstairs" Morgan said "Are you guys hungry?"

Lee and Rick could not deny that their stomachs were growling as they were both in a coma for who knows how long but Lee wondered if clementine was hungry.

"Are you hungry?" Lee asked Clementine.

"Yes" Clementine answered as she had run out of food a few days ago.

"We would love some food" Rick said.

"Then come on" Morgan said as they went down the stairs.

When they got downstairs Rick looked around and realized something.

"I knew the people who lived here" Rick said "Good people a teacher and his wife".

"The house was empty when we got here" Morgan replied.

"My wife Lori knew them better than I did".

Lee looked at the table and saw bread and beets broccoli and other things.

"Where did you get this stuff" Lee asked Morgan.

"We have a garden in the backyard" Duane answered before his father could.

As they all sat down before they could eat Morgan stopped them.

"We have to say grace before we eat" as he and Duane closed their eyes and put their hands in a praying position.

Rick grew up in a very religious family but it never seemed very important to him but out of respect he did the same thing.

Clementine used to doing this when her family ate dinner did the same thing. Lee was religious so he did it.

"Oh heavenly lord we thank you for the gift of this food and the roof over our heads and please watch over us in these crazy days amen" Morgan said.

"Amen" They all repeated.

Then they all started eating when Rick spoke "So Morgan where is everyone?" He asked Morgan He asked"Did they all turn into walkers?" He asked worried about his wife and son.

"No a lot of people went to Atlanta they said the military was there keeping the place safe" Morgan answered.

Lee thought back to the messages on the answering machine in Clementine's house that must be why the woman said they kept talking about Atlanta.

"That must be where my wife and son are then" Rick thought out loud.

"Maybe I mean I'm sure that some people died here considering all the walkers, you can't get your hopes up too high" Morgan replied.

"Morgan's right Rick" Lee agreed "If it turns out that your family is not there I don't want to see you too heartbroken".

"I'm sure that they are there" Rick argued.

Then they heard the sound a car would make if a window was broken. They looked out the window and saw a car with a broken by walkers and dozens of walkers around the car.

"Oh man I knew this would happen eventually" Morgan said angry.

"What?" Rick asked.

"Walkers can break glass easily it was only a matter of time before this happened" Morgan explained "Now every walker in Macon will come".

Lee felt a tug on his sleeve he looked down at Clementine "What is it?" He asked.

"I'm scared" she said.

Lee said the first thing that came to mind "Don't be It's going to be okay" Lee said unsure about what he said.

Duane was looking out the window when he saw something that almost made him cry "Daddy she's here" Duane yelled with tears in his eyes.

Morgan knowing what this means grabbed his son and took him over to a bed and let him cry into a pillow while he rubbed his back.

Rick and Lee looked out the window and saw a black woman walker limping by the door it looked at them with a dead eye expression.

"It's okay" Morgan whispered to Duane.

"Who is that" Lee asked.

"Jenny my wife and Duane's mother" Morgan said sad.

Lee and Rick looked at him.

"My family is from Augusta when the dead started walking we heard Atlanta was safe so we started to head towards there when we got here to Macon….." Morgan had trouble finishing his sentence "When we got here we got boxed in there were dozens of them we ran into this house and I thought we were all safe but then… My wife showed me that she got bitten on her hip she got sick that fever wipes you out quick she died on that bed upstairs" Morgan said almost crying.

"And when she came back we put her outside and stayed here instead of going to Atlanta figure that it is safe".

"Morgan I am so sorry" Rick said "I don't know what I would do without Lori

Lee watched as the two men spoke about their wives Lee's wife cheated on him so he did not have the same connection Rick and Morgan had to their wives.

"It's late and the walkers won't clear out until morning let's get some sleep" Morgan said.

"Yea okay" Lee said.

"Me and Duane will sleep upstairs Clementine can sleep in the bed down here one of you can sleep on the couch and other can sleep on a sleeping bag in the closet over there" Morgan said.

"I can sleep in the sleeping bag" Rick said.

"Are you sure"? Lee asked.

"Yea I was unconscious all day I probably won't sleep anyways" Rick answered.

"Alright then"

Later when everyone else was asleep Rick was wide awake thinking about Lori and Carl.

"I will find both of you I promise" He stated.


	5. What Needs To Be Done

The walking dead Journey season/volume/episode 1 The journey begins

2 months into apocalypse (Fall/Autumn)

"GET OFF OF HIM! LEE PLEASE STOP!" The female voice yelled

Lee was holding a naked man against the wall his arms around his neck, the man was trying to push against Lee to break free his penis flopping around each time he moved. Lee had a look of unbelievable rage on his face his pupils looking like they were going to fall off with how much they were shaking,his teeth pressing together looking like they could break at any time.

Lee was unable to hear his wife's screams,he could feel her trying to pull his arm away he could also feel the naked woman's breasts on his arm and her vagina on his leg. Lee watched as the man's pupils rolled into the back of his head he stopped struggling then his body went limp. Lee let go of the man's neck and his body fell limp to the ground.

Lee backed away astonished at what he just did, his wife screaming louder, crying louder then before, spouting gibberish. Lee was not hearing any of it he was just staring at the corpse of the state senator he just killed.

His wife was next to the dead man blubbering shaking the man as if it would revive him.

"NO! YOU MONSTER!" she yelled "LEE! LEE!"

"Lee" Morgan said shaking Lee as he woke up.

Lee sat up and realized that he was still in the house that he fell asleep in. He sat up and looked at the dull brown walls much different then his old house which had white walls. He looked over and saw that everyone else was already up.

"Are you okay Lee?" Morgan asked.

"Yea why?" Lee asked.

"You were mumbling in your sleep something about a monster" Rick answered.

Lee's eyes widened "Oh uh I was just dreaming about the walkers chasing me" He lied. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"Okay then" Rick said.

"Get up then we can't leave without you" Morgan spoke

"What?" Lee asked "Where are we going?"

"To my house I have to grab something" Rick answered.

"Most of the walkers have cleared out since the car ran out of juice, we just have to push through a couple to get to Rick's house" Morgan explained.

"How are we going to do that?" Lee asked.

"I am going to give you guys some weapons to take them out,I'll cover you guys and shoot if things get hairy" Morgan explained while going through a closet.

"Why can't you just shoot them?" Rick asked "It seems like it would save us a lot of trouble".

"Noise attracts them,you saw what happened with that car yesterday if I shoot every walker in Macon will swarm us" Morgan explained (He seems to be doing a lot of that) while handing Rick a baseball bat and Lee a shovel.

"Oh alright then" Rick said

Morgan then turned to Duane and Clementine "You two stay behind us and be careful" he said.

"Okay" Clementine said while Duane nodded.

They then opened the door and looked around at the street the car with the broken window was still there only now all of the windows were broken. Morgan looked around and was thankful that Jenny was not out here.

Two walkers were there and looked over as they noticed Rick and Lee coming towards them, they began to stumble in their direction. Lee took a deep breath as he gripped the shovel getting flashbacks to when he murdered that state senator. You monster, his ex-wife's words played over in his head, he had taken a life someone who he didn't even know the name of. He looked at the walking corpse coming towards him even through its skin was rotting and it made somewhat horrifying sounds it still resembled a human and Lee was about to kill it. He got lucky back in Clementine's house since he didn't have to kill the walker (Which he is assuming was Clementine's babysitter Sandra) that was there but now he was not getting out of it this time he had to learn to kill these things in order to survive this new world. He looked at the walker one last time its eyes looked sad and sounds it made sounded like it was in pain just asking for him to end it, maybe it was just his imagination he thought but it did comfort him. He swallowed the saliva in his throat and raised the shovel and with one hit the walker fell to the ground where it layed completely motionless. Beside him Rick swung his baseball bat and smacked the walker in the face killing it.

"Let's go" Rick said. They ran inside Rick's house Morgan being the last one in as he let the kids in first closed and locked the door.

Rick then began to look through the living room vigorously turning the place upside down looking for something.

"Rick what are you looking for?" Lee asked.

"Something that will help me get to my wife and son" Rick answered vaguely.

"Rick what even makes you think that they are even alive much less in Atlanta" Morgan asked.

"Because a lot of my stuff is gone my wife could have taken it to Atlanta with her" Rick answered.

"It could have been taken by looters" Morgan suggested.

"Photo albums,family pictures what kind of looter would take that?" Rick said.

There was a silence until Morgan's face changed into a smile as he slightly chuckled. "When my family was leaving Augusta while I was packing food and supplies my wife was getting photo albums" His smile vanished and there was another moment of silence.

"Well anyways" Rick said "If I am going to get to Atlanta I'm going to need a ride and...aha!"

"What did you find?" Lee asked him.

Rick turned around now holding a shiny key "This is the key to the police station here in Macon"

Lee's and Morgan's faces lit up nothing more had to be said.

Later the five of them were on there way to the police station.

"So Morgan have you tried to get in the police station before?" Rick asked him.

"Yeah we tried but we weren't able to get in,then some guys showed up and they tried".

"And what happened to them?" Lee asked.

"Well I think that they are a lot of the walkers you two have seen".

Rick and Lee both frowned at the news.

They eventually saw the police station and walked up to the door Rick put the key into the lock and opened the door it was pitch black. Rick moved his hands around the wall looking for the switch when he found it and turned the lights on Morgan's,Duane's,and Clementine's eyes nearly bugged out of there skull.

"This place has power" Duane marveled.

"How?" Morgan asked dumbfounded.

"The police station is powered by its own generator" Rick answered.

The police station was pretty bland with yellowish-white walls and brown desks everywhere there was a small window just underneath the roof but other then that their was no way to tell that the world was any bigger then this. There was a coffee machine on a desk with about half a cup worth of coffee still in it, yet none of them dare go near it as who knows how old that could me.

They made their way into the shower areas, they stood by a cubicle and Rick pulled a faucet causing water to sprinkle out.

"Water has been out for a month and a half" Morgan said still unable to process this.

"The police station also has its own propane tank" Rick explained.

Lee put his hand under the water "It's hot" He said while everyone else smiled

"Alright everyone you can go into the locker room and change come out wearing a towel and you can go into the shower" Rick said as he Morgan and Duane all went in the locker room.

Lee was about to follow them when he looked at Clementine she was rubbing her arm nervously.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Um... do I have to take off my clothes with all of you?" she asked.

Lee now understood what was wrong she was the only girl and the youngest as he remembered Morgan Mentioning that Duane was 10.

"Well how about we all get undressed and while we are in the shower you can get undressed yourself" Lee suggested.

Clementine smiled she seemed to like this "Okay" she said.

Later Rick,Lee,Morgan,and Duane came out in nothing but towels as Clementine stood not far from them.

Duane felt kinda embarrassed as he was wearing nothing but a towel in front of this girl that he thought was kinda cute. There eyes met but Clementine blushed and quickly looked away.

The three men and one child went into four stalls and turned on the showers as Clementine went into the locker room to change.

"Oh my lord" Morgan exclaimed in happiness.

"Hot water,hot water" Duane chanted while jumping around.

"How does that feel?" Lee asked with a smile on his face.

Rick who was shaving his beard was beard was happy that he could bring joy to these peoples lives.

Lee was scrubbing shampoo in his hair when he heard the stall door next to him open and close and then the water in it started pouring, Lee knew It must be Clementine.

"How is it Clem" He thought up of the nickname on the spot. He knew it was not very creative but her real name was just too long.

"It's pretty good" She answered.

Lee smiled.

Later Lee,Morgan and Rick were all sitting on a bench just finished with there shower Lee and Morgan were dressed but Rick was still in his towel. Clementine was changing in the stall since she was not comfortable doing it in the locker room. Duane had taken a slightly longer shower and was heading towards the locker room when his father stopped him.

"Duane" Duane stopped cold "What do you say to mister Grimes and mister uh Lee" he said not knowing Lee's last name.

"Thank you sirs" Duane said to them.

"No problem" Rick said while Lee just smiled.

Duane then walked into the locker room.

"I'll be right back" Rick said suddenly while going to an unknown location.

Morgan and Lee sat next to each other admiring the bland atmosphere.

"Hey Lee I've been meaning to ask you a question" Morgan said suddenly.

"What is it?" Lee asked.

"How did you end up in a coma?" "I know that Rick was shot but what about you?"

Lee didn't know how he could to this question. He couldn't tell him the truth that he killed somebody and that he was on his way to prison. So he decided to be as honest as he could be without revealing that he was a murderer.

"I was just out for a drive when we were hit by a semi it was probably a drunk driver"

"Damn" Morgan responded "Wait we?" Morgan questioned "Who were you with?"

Lee froze he couldn't tell him that it was a police officer so he made something up.

"Just a friend" He lied.

"What happened to your friend?"

"I don't know I woke up in the hospital and he wasn't there"

"Well I hope that your friend is ok" Morgan said with sympathy.

"Yeah me too" Lee said.

Rick then came through the door in his brown sheriff outfit including his hat.

"Rick you look like a cowboy" Lee chuckled.

"Well that getup certainly suits you" Morgan added.

At that moment both Duane and Clementine came out of their respective changing rooms both fully dressed.

"I keep a spare uniform in my locker" Rick said "If they have a lot of people in Atlanta it will b a lot easier getting around as a cop then will be for a normal citizen might as well look the part".

"Makes sense" Lee observed.

"Now come on I have another surprise for you" Rick said.

They all followed Rick to a door which he opened reveling a whole bunch of guns. Rifles and shotguns were lined up on the wall and pistols were at the bottom with crates full of ammo on the ground.

"Holy moly" Was all Morgan managed to say.

"Wow" Lee said never seeing so many guns at once before.

"Go ahead and grab a couple for yourself Morgan just don't take all of them" Rick said.

Duane reached for a rifle but Morgan slapped his hand away "No dammit don't touch anything" he scolded.

"But I'm old enough" Duane argued.

"Hell yes you are" Morgan said "And I'm gonna teach you how to use one, we have to do it carefully teach you to respect the weapon but until then they're off limits".

"He's right,it's not a toy" Rick added "You pull the trigger you gotta mean it. Always remember that Duane".

"Yes sir" Duane nodded.

Lee picked up a hand gun and observed it.

"Do you know how to shoot Lee?" Rick asked.

"Yeah my grandfather taught me" Lee explained "He was a real hardcore hunter he died about 25 year ago from a hunting accident he lived to be 74.

Lee looked over and saw Clementine more behind him then he thought she was visibly shaking while staring at the guns.

"There's no reason to be scared Clem they're only things" Lee reassured her.

"What does that mean?" Clementine asked.

"It means that are not forces that can hurt you they are just items like anything else" Lee explained.

Clementine nodded.

Later Morgan and Rick grabbed bags to carry the guns in. After they had decided they had enough they went in the back and found two police cars.

"You take the one on the left it won't run as good as the one I'm taking but is still is pretty good" Rick said motioning to Morgan.

"Wait what!?" Morgan said shocked "You're giving me the police car?"

"Yeah you'll be safer in it if you need to get anywhere around here" Rick said "Unless you want to come to Atlanta with me?"

"No pretty soon Duane will know how to shoot and we can always get a hot shower here so I think we'll be just fine but thank you for the car really".

"So then Lee are you coming with me?' Rick asked.

"Yeah my parents live in Atlanta with my brother" Lee said.

"What why didn't you mention this sooner?" Rick asked.

"Well I kinda had a falling out with my parents" Lee answered. That was true he just didn't tell him that was because he killed someone.

Suddenly Lee felt a tug on his sleeve he looked down and saw Clementine "Yeah?"

"People from all over Georgia went to Atlanta right?" She asked.

"I guess" he answered.

"Then it must be where my mom and dad are right?" She said exited.

Lee was afraid to tell Clementine about her parents because he's pretty sure he knows what happened to them because of the voice mails. He needed to tell her but one look into her sweet and innocent eyes stopped him.

"Well uh..It's possible" he told her.

"Then can I come with you?".

"Um sure".

"Thank you" she said.

Rick then turned to Morgan "So I guess this is goodbye" Rick said.

Morgan Smiled "Hopefully we meet again some day" He said as he shook Rick's hand. "I hope you both find your families" he said as he shook Lee's hand.

Suddenly they hear the haunting noise of a walker they all take there guns out and look around then they see the walker dressed in only a slightly different outfit then Rick's it then started to bang against the gate separating them.

"Do you know him?" Lee asked Rick

"Yeah he was the sheriff. Sheriff Hunter he was kind of a hardass but still a decent guy" Rick sighed "I can't just leave him like this I have to shoot him".

"If you shoot more walkers will show up" Morgan said.

"We can be gone before they even get here" Lee said.

"Alright then" Morgan said "Goodbye".

Rick and Lee nodded at him as he and Duane got into there car and drove off.

"Come on Clementine" Lee said as he took her into the car.

Rick walked up to the gate lifted up his gun and shot the walker between the eyes blowing its brain out the back of its head and returned to the car without a word. He sat in the drivers seat,Lee sat n the passengers seat and Clementine sat in the back. They all noticed that the seats felt very nice,Lee told Clem to put on her seat belt and they drove off.

Morgan entered his house along with his son. Duane instantly ran over to a table and opened the drawer reveling a bunch of comic books the grabs a few and run over to the bed to read them.

Morgan set down the bag of guns on the table in the living room but then he takes out the rifle and goes to head upstairs. "Stay down here and read your comic books Duane" He say simply before walking up the stairs.

The stairs seemed to go on forever for Morgan like for every step 1 step he had to go down 3 but when he had finally reached the top he wish he hadn't. He walked to the window and crouched down looking through the scope of the rifle.

He saw a few walkers and the first one he saw he lined its head up with and gun and fired, it fell to the ground along with a blood splatter.

Downstairs Duane flinched when he heard the shot. "Daddy!" He called to no answer. He though about going up there but remembered that his father told him to stay downstairs. As he heard another shot he grabbed a pillow and clutched it against his ears to try to block the noise.

Upstairs Morgan kept shooting them until he saw his wife Jenny. The walker looked straight at the gun with its eyes completely dead he put his finger on the trigger ready to shoot, then it felt like an invisible force was holding him back stopping him from shooting her.

"Oh come on Morgan" He whispered to himself "Do something for once in your worthless life and finish it" But even after whisper yelling to himself he just couldn't do it.

He began to cry. He was weak he thought to himself,he couldn't put his wife out of this misery.

Meanwhile Rick,Lee,and Clementine were driving when they stopped at the hospital that Rick and Lee woke up in.

"Why are we stopping?" Clementine asked.

"We just have to take care of something Clem" Lee said as he and Rick got out of the car "It will only take a second".

Sure enough the walker with no legs and the little girl walker were still there. Rick walked up to the little girl thinking about his son, was he one of these thing things? No he had to be in Atlanta with his wife they just had to be. He raised his gun and shot the little girl,she went down with a thud. He wiped a tear that began to run down his face.

Meanwhile Lee went up to the other walker and crouched down next to it. This was once a person he thought to himself, this was not a monster or some sort of creature just a lost soul.

"I'm sorry this happened to you" He whispered to both it and himself. He then put the gun to its head and shot it.

Then Rick and Lee looked at each other and nodded. As they got back in the car and drove off.

"Next stop Atlanta" Rick said.


	6. A New Perspective

The Walking Dead Journey Volume/Season/Episode 1 The Journey begins

2 months into apocalypse Fall/Autumn

Rick stared at the road in front of him it was weird not driving with other cars. Of course he lived In Macon for over a decade it was a pretty small town so he didn't see many cars anyway but this was still weird.

Next to him Lee yawned they had been driving for about 2 or 3 hours towards Atlanta. Lee looked behind him and saw Clementine in the back seat looking down at her feet not saying a word. This felt weird to Lee as this was the second time he had ever been in a police car. The first time was when he was going to jail,there he was being talked down to by the cop (Who died in the car crash confirmed by me Ps. The drunk driver died too) while in handcuffs in the back seat. And now he was sitting next to another police officer,driving like the previous one but now Lee was sitting side by side with him,while a helpless little girl sat in the back. A little girl he needed to protect and he would. All this gave him a new perspective on things.

Rick then grabs the radio that was on the front of the car,he had tried this earlier to no avail but they were now nearing Atlanta so he thought that it was worth a try.

"Hello" Rick said surprising Lee "This is officer Rick Grimes we'll be nearing highway 85 towards Atlanta if anybody can hear me please respond".

Meanwhile in a camp just outside of Atlanta there were a bunch of people in a camp there were two streams near by a bigger one and a smaller one. By the bigger stream there were a couple of small brown boats kept on the land right next to it. In the smaller one there were a few women washing clothes in it. There was a large RV parked in the dirt around the camp with an old man wearing a fishers hat sitting in a lawn chair holding a rifle atop it. Hunched over a radio was a man wearing a brown coat with short brown hair fiddling with the buttons on it trying to find an active channel.

"H-e-ll-o" a voice came from the radio.

The mans eyes widened "Holy shit" he whispered to himself "HEY GUYS WE GOT SOMEONE ON THE RADIO!" he yelled to the rest of the group.

Immediately the group gathered around the man who was named Doug. The old man on RV,whose name was Dale,quickly climbed down and ran as fast as his feeble legs could carry him. A blonde women,named Amy,came and crouched next to Doug taking the radio from him.

"Hello who is this?" She spoke into the radio.

"Th-i-s is of-fi-cer. Ri..." The radio barley worked so the voice came out in stutters and cut out in certain parts.

"Hello?" Amy said "Are you still there"

"We-'ll be nea-r-in-g high-w-ay 8-5 towar-ds Atla-nta".

"What" Amy said shocked "No don't enter Atlanta it's infested we're just outside the city,can you me?"

"I-f any-b..." The radio cut out.

"Here let me see that" Shane,a member of the group said to Amy.

"He said that he's a cop like you" Doug said while Amy handed Shane the radio.

"Hello this is officer Shane Walsh speaking to person unknown pleas respond" Shane spoke into the radio. "Nothing we lost him" he said.

"This means that there are other people out there if this guys heading towards the city we need to put signs on 85 to warn him and other people" the woman named Lori said standing next to her 9 year old son Carl.

The group (Which consisted of Larry Lilly Shane Dale Doug Carly Carol Ed Sophia Jacqui Morales and his family Daryl Merle Doug Amy Jim Mark Andrea Glenn T-dog Donna Allen Billy and Ben other people who don't matter and of course Lori herself and her son Carl some of the group being absent) all looked at her.

"Lori we can't do that" Shane said simply.

"Why not?" Lori asked.

"Because we just don't have the time" He said "I mean who do you propose we send?".

"I'll go give me a vehicle" She said.

"Lori you know we don't split up the group" Dale said.

"Lori's right" T-dog said "These people don't know what they're getting into we can't just let them die".

"We already have over thirty people in our group" Donna argued.

"Besides who gives a shit if some assholes get themselves killed they're not our problem!" Larry spat angrily.

"Dad please calm down" Lilly,Larry's daughter,said making Larry curl his lips.

"I can't believe this you people are just going to let innocent people die" Lori said.

"We can't be responsible for every struggling survivor out there we need to focus on our group" Shane said.

Seeing that all these people were against her she angrily marched to her tent. Carl tried to follow her but Shane stopped him.

"Hey how about you just let her cool down kid I'll go talk to her okay?".

"Alright" Carl said before running off.

Shane went inside the tent to find Lori fuming marching around the large tent.

"Hey" he said Lori didn't respond."What are you ignoring me now?" "You can't just ignore me I know that you wanted to put up the signs but it's just too dangerous and we're not getting anywhere if you just ignore me,so get yourself together not just for me but for the whole group and Carl".

Lori turned around and looked Shane in his eyes they stood there looking at each other before going into a deep kiss. When they pulled away they still looked a each other.

"You're right" She said before exiting the tent with Shane soon following.

Meanwhile in the police car Rick set down the radio. "Dammit nothing" he said quietly.

Lee looked at Rick driving he too was upset that no one answered maybe they're just busy he thought to himself. "Hey Rick" he said.

"Hm?" Rick responded.

"Where are you're parents aren't you worried about them?" He asked.

"No my parents live in Kentucky me and my little brother Jeffery moved down here to Georgia over a decade ago,Lori's parents on the other hand live in Atlanta so they're probably safe".

"You have a little brother too?" Lee asked.

"Yeah I guess that's something we have in common" Rick smiled.

"It's nice to meet someone who knows what it's like to be a little brother".

"Yeah I always had to help him with bullies,got my ass kicked most of the time, but it was worth it to protect him" Rick said.

"Yeah I always fought bullies too I got pretty good at fighting after all those years" Lee chuckled "So where is your brother?"

"I heard from him right before I got shot said he was going to start traveling he went to Spain"

"Spain?!"

"Yeah"

"My brother would never do that he was always kinda a mamas boy he could never travel" Lee said.

Then they both began laughing and smiling until Rick looked at the gas "Aw shit" he said.

"Swear" Clementine said from the back this whole time she was looking out the window admiring the scenery.

"Sorry,sorry" Rick apologized.

"What is it" Lee asked.

"We're almost out of gas we won't make it to Atlanta we gotta stop soon".

Lee looked out the windshield "I think I see a house" he said.

"Really,no shit?" Rick asked.

"Swear" Clementine said again.

Rick groaned Carl didn't really mind swearing but this girl obviously did "Sorry" he said again.

Lee meanwhile grinned at this "Just stop right up here" he said pointing to a house.

Rick stopped the car and they all got out with Rick having the bag of guns on his back. They all looked at the one story house Lee could feel the incredibly long grass up his leg. They walked up the steps Rick upfront with Lee closely following him and Clementine behind Lee's leg.

Rick knocked on the door "Hello do you have any gas you can spare?" he asked.

When no one answered Rick opened the door and he and Lee couldn't believe what they saw. There was a man sitting in a chair with half of his face gone his skull exposed making him look like a Halloween decoration,he was holding a shotgun pointing downward in his limp hands. On the ground there was a corpse of a woman who had no face just a bloody pulp with multiple bullets in her head. Hanging off couch there was a young boy no older then 11 with no eyes one was on the ground intact while the other was in pieces with parts of his brain also on the ground and it all had a mountain of flies over everything. On the wall there was a message written in blood saying God Forgive Us.

Both Lee and Rick ran out Lee almost pushing Clementine out the door. Once they were out side Rick felt a force coming from his stomach and it rising into his throat so he leaned over the ledge and vomited onto the grass.

"What was in there?" Clementine asked.

"Nothing Clem" Lee answered simply.

Rick was still hunched over the ledge gasping his stomach slightly hurting.

"Rick are you okay?" Lee asked.

"Yeah yeah I'm fine" he said while standing up straight. "Let's see if there car has any gas".

They went over to the garage and found a station wagon looking like it hadn't been touched in years. Rick tried open it but was locked so he looked through the window and saw the gas meter.

"Goddammit!" he yelled.

"What is it?" Lee asked.

"No gas either looks like we're going to have to..." Rick stopped as he saw headlights in the distance.

"Is that a car?" Rick asked.

"Yeah I think it is" Lee answered as he turned around.

It was a red pickup truck it parked next to the police car and two men came out. One was wearing green and had short black hair he was also clean shaven. The other had longer brown hair and was bigger then the other he was wearing a loose white shirt with countless stains on it and had a slight beard.

"Finally the last house" the one wearing green said.

"It better be" the other said "I gotta get home soon it's hot dish night"

They couldn't see Lee Rick and Clementine because they were in the garage,but they thought it was time to make their presence known.

"Hey" Lee said while they all came out.

"Holy shit!" the one wearing green exclaimed.

"Don't eat us!" the other pleaded.

"We're not here to hurt you" Rick said.

"Phew for a second I thought that you guys and the little one were all going to give us the chomp" the one wearing green said relived.

"What are you guys doing out here?" Lee asked.

"We're getting supplies from some houses this is the last one we're going too" the bigger one said

"You don't want to go in there" Rick said.

"Why not?" the bigger one asked.

"Trust me you don't" Lee said.

"It's cool we've got enough supplies" The one wearing green said.

"Any gas?" Rick asked **(Ha that rhymed).**

"No sorry" the one wearing green answered. "Anyways I'm Shawn. Shawn Greene"

"Lee. This is Rick and Clementine" Lee introduced them.

The other guy leaned down to Clementine "I'm Chet"

"So where are you guys going" Shawn asked.

"We're heading towards Atlanta" Lee answered.

"Atlanta?!"Chet said "That's a long walk"

Rick nearly face palmed "We're not walking there we're taking that car" he said while pointing to the police car.

"Oh yeah that makes a lot more sense" Chet said "You know we probably should have noticed that sooner" he admitted.

"Wait you're a cop?" Shawn asked Rick as he began to take notice of his sheriff's deputy outfit.

Rick nodded.

"By any chance do you know someone named Andre Mitchell?" "And where he is now?".

"No sorry" Rick said.

"He a friend of yours?" Lee asked.

"Yeah he is" Chet answered "He was a cop and a good friend of ours we lost contact with him when this whole thing began".

"Anyways if you're heading to Atlanta my family's farm is in that direction,a little out of the way but not too much and if you all want too you can stay the night" Shawn offered.

"That's awful nice of you" Rick said happily. He then then turned towards Lee "What do you think?" he asked.

Lee was going to say it sounded like a good idea but before he could get a word out they all heard a distinct moaning.

"Oh shit we've got some creepers coming we got to go" Chet said quickly as he saw a few walkers coming towards them.

Listening to him Rick and Lee sprang into action,Lee briefly looked behind himself to make sure Clementine was there,she was and ran with them towards the truck. Shawn went into the drivers seat while Lee opened the passengers side door,he let Clem step in first scooting to the middle between the two seats. Lee was about to go in himself when he saw a walker right next to him,he took out his pistol and aimed it at it,he briefly thought back to when he killed the state senator but then remembered that this was not him. He shot the walker in between its eyes and watched it fall to the ground before getting into the car and slamming the door shut.

Meanwhile Chet jumped into the back of the truck,Rick on the other side began to jump in too before he was pulled halfway out by a walker that grabbed onto his arm. He struggled against it trying to pull his arm away.

"RICK!" Lee called from the front. He wanted to help his friend but the walkers were right there next too the car door banging on the glass.

Rick's back was facing Chet who grabbed a pistol from the bag of guns on Rick's back and shot the creeper in the head. It fell to the ground almost taking Rick with it,but he managed too stay and climbed back up.

"Thanks" Rick said gratefully.

"No problem" Chet said back as Shawn started the truck running a few of the walkers over.

They had been driving for what seemed like forever until Shawn made a turn through a bare patch of a corn field pulling into a wide open yard with a large house and a little ways away there was a barn. When they pulled up and all got out Chet turned to Shawn.

"Hey man I'm a' run on home my mama's gonna be in a snit,I'll come collect my half of the supplies tomorrow" He said in his country accent.

"No sweat man I'll catch you then" Shawn replied with a smile.

He then turned to Rick,Lee,and Clementine "It was nice to meet y'all"

"You too Chet" Lee replied.

Chet was about to turn to leave when he remembered something. He walked up to Rick and took out the pistol he took and shot that creeper with. "I forgot to give this back" He said.

Rick took one look at the gun and then looked back at Chet "Keep it" He said.

"What?!" He said surprised.

"You may need it to protect yourself sometime besides I've got plenty" He said motioning to the bag of guns.

Chet then put the gun in the back of his pants. "Thank ya" He said before running out of sight.

Then the door opened reveling an old man wearing green just like Shawn was. "Thank god you made it back" The man said hugging Shawn.

He just then noticed Lee,Rick,and Clementine. "You've brought a few guests I see" he said.

"Yeah Chet and I found them they're heading towards Atlanta" Shawn explained.

"Atlanta?" He asked. "Seems kinda late to be heading there now".

"Actually we were both in a coma when this whole thing began" Rick explained while Lee nodded.

"Really?!" He asked surprised. He then looked at Clementine "Who's the little girl?" He asked.

"This is Clementine we found her back in Macon" Lee answered.

He eyed the two strangers suspiciously and then went down to Clementine's height. "Honey do you know these men?" He asked her.

Rick and Lee were shocked that this man seemed to be suspicious that they might have kidnapped her.

Clementine looked at the man "Yes" She answered simply.

"Okay then" He replied while slowly getting back up.

Lee and Rick just then noticed the small crowd of people behind Shawn and the man,the man noticed them too.

"I'm sorry" He said "I've been rude too y'all I'm Hershel Greene".

"I'm Lee and it's fine" Lee replied.

Rick eyed the man trying to get a feel of the man "Rick" He said simply.

"Anyways this is my farm you guys are welcome to stay here if you like on your way to Atlanta. We've got plenty of food harvested and still growing plus some cows for milk and butter so food isn't an issue" "Now allow me to introduce you to the people living here"

Hershel pointed to a bulky women with long black hair "This is my eldest daughter Lacey" He pointed to a bigger man also with black hair tied back in a small ponytail "The one with the chip in his shoulder is my eldest son Arnold" He then looked at Shawn who this whole time was standing there with nothing to do "You have of course already met my son Shawn" He then directed them to a girl with hair much shorter then Lacy's "This is my daughter Maggie" He turned to a boy with a piece of straw in his mouth and a band around his head "My youngest son Billy" The next person Hershel pointed to seemed to be different from the others as the rest had black hair while she had long blonde hair "The black sheep of the family,ironic because she is the one without black hair,is my daughter Beth" Hershel said as Beth smiled and blushed. "Rachel and Susie here round out the pack" He said talking about two little girls once again with black hair "Susie's is the one with the pigtails" He added to avoid any possible confusion. He then turned to a man in a cowboy hat "This is Beth's boyfriend Jimmy he's been staying with us for several weeks" He turned to a obese man and a red haired women beside him "This is Otis and Patrica they lived up the road from here. Our place is safer than theirs so they have been staying with us since this whole thing began".

"So that just leaves-"

Before he could finish he was interrupted by a voice "Hey y'all"

They all turned to see a man in a baseball cap,a women with short blonde hair,and a boy with even shorter black hair coming towards them.

"Good morning Kenny" Hershel greeted.

"Hey Hershel" The man named Kenny replied. He then looked at Rick,Lee and Clementine "Who are they?" He asked.

"I'm Lee this is Rick and Clementine" Lee answered before Hershel could.

"I'm Kenny this is my wife Katjaa.

"Hello" Katjaa said.

"And this is my son Ken junior we call him Duck though". Kenny said while he shook Rick and Lee's hands and Duck waved

"I don't mean to interrupt introductions but we really need to reinforce the fence Duck and I can hop to it" Shawn said suddenly.

"I'm gonna drive the tractor" Duck said excited.

"Alright then" Hershel said then proceeding to turn to Rick and Lee "Feel free to look around the farm I wish we could give you a tour but we have enough chores as it is" He said to them.

"It's fine" Lee said while Rick stayed silent.

Everyone then began to scatter Shawn and Duck heading to the fence,Kenny heading to a Truck with the hood opened and everyone else went off who knows where.

Katjaa stayed and said "I can chat with your girl with a while we can visit" She said Then she and Clementine sat on pieces of Hay near the house.

Rick and Lee looked at each other "What do you think?" Lee asked.

Rick had a stern look on his face "I'm not sure if I trust these people Lee they were acting kinda weird".

"You're being paranoid" Lee said.

"Maybe but you should look around I'm going to talk to Shawn" He said as he walked towards Shawn and Duck.

Lee shook his head Rick is being ridiculous he thought. He then turned towards Kenny and thought that maybe he could help him.

"Need any help?" Lee asked as he made his way next to Kenny.

"Naw I got it".

"Okay then" Lee said as he was about to walk off.

"Do you need any help?" Kenny asked.

"Uh what?" Lee asked.

"I mean in taking care of that girl. You know what you're doing? You got kids of your own?" Kenny asked.

"No no kids" Lee answered quietly.

"Well then trust me it's hard Duck is quite the handful though I think it's because he's dumb as a bag of hammers" Kenny said.

Lee was surprised that Kenny would talk about his son like that. "Oh yeah that reminds me why do you call him Duck?"

"Nothing fazes him y'know like water off a duck's back" Kenny explained.

"That seems to be a valuable trait lately'" Lee observed.

"Yeah it is. Katjaa has a sister up in Memphis we were coming back from visiting her,we were in a gas station and some guy grabbed my boy. I thought he was kidnapping him I was on the fucker in about two seconds and turned out it was a creeper. Just...Christ lucky I was there,we saw a lot of bodies before we stumbled upon Hershel's. But we're a tough family Lee ain't nothing gonna faze us".

Not knowing what to say Lee just said a simple "See ya" Kenny didn't reply back.

Rick meanwhile went up to the fence surrounding the farm. Duck was on the tractor pretending to drive it while Shawn was hammering in some nails. Rick smiled at Duck reminding him of Carl "Having fun Duck?" Rick asked like he did his own son.

"Yeah I'm the foreman lift with your back Shawn" He semi shouted even through Shawn wasn't lifting anything.

"Need a hand?" Rick asked Shawn.

"Yeah if you could cut those two-bys to length that would that'd sure speed things up" Shawn said pointing to some two-bys a a saw.

"Sure" Rick replied.

After Rick had already cut a few pieces Shawn had begun to talk to him "You know I saw a guy not too far from here kill a kid a boy just shot him right in the face".

Rick was shocked and for a few seconds he didn't say anything "What where?" Was all he could think to say.

"I don't even know about six miles west from here." "I mean he didn't even hesitate he just turned put the barrel of the gun right between the kid's eyes and pulled the trigger. You don't see thing like that it's not like in the movies."

"You know what's weird that's the kind of person that I should have arrested before all this began and now this child killer is out there free."

"But the thing is I don't think that this guy would have done that before this began it's not like he was in jail or anything. It's like this world gave him a whole new perspective about it" Shawn replied.

Rick mauled over his words while cutting a two-bye he was about to pick up another one when Shawn stopped him."That should be all I need cut for right now thanks for your help"

"Your welcome" Rick said as he was walking off. "Oh and Shawn thanks for helping me Lee and Clementine back there I really appreciate it"

"No problem Rick couldn't leave you guys behind" Shawn said as he smiled.

Meanwhile Lee,after talking to Kenny,went up to Katjaa and Clementine. "Wow you two actually looked relaxed" He said.

"I think we're doing just fine Clementine was just telling me about first grade" Katjaa explained.

Lee then turned to Clementine "Well how was that?"

"It's easy" Clementine replied.

"Well yeah" Lee said. "So you're good?" Lee asked trying to help them be happy in this time.

"Yeah it's almost like we haven't been seeing corpses eat people for the last 2 months" Katjaa said.

"Well I've only seen it for the past day or so" Lee replied.

"You are lucky Lee. When it all first started we drove past so many people who needed help over some Kenny just drove just... just..."

Seeing that she was getting was emotional Lee decided to stop prying "It's okay it's fine you don't have to say anymore" Lee said with sympathy.

"I want to go home soon but even then I can't take away the things that we- that Duck went through" Katjaa said sadly. "Don't you want to got back to the moment before you knew all of this?"

Truthfully no the moment before he knew about this he was heading to prison for the rest of his life/waking up from a coma now he was a free man but at what cost? The end of so many lives and the constant fear of death was this his punishment? Was prison too good for him?

"Well everything happens for a reason" Lee replied.

"But what reason could this have?" Katjaa questioned.

"I'm not sure but that doesn't mean that I don't miss the old world anyone in their right mind would. Families and BBQ's and beers with good friends"

"All of those things"

"I miss those things but all this still happened for a reason" Lee said.

"I suppose you're right"

To lighten the mood Lee decided to ask a happier question "So what do you do when corpses aren't walking around?"

Katjaa laughed slightly "I was a veterinarian back in Fort Lauderdale like Hershel here only more with dogs and cats and uh not horses" "What is it that you did Lee?"

"I used to teach at the University of Georgia" Lee answered truthfully it was getting harder and harder to do that.

"We need to hope that we can go back to our jobs eventually Lee back to normal" Katjaa said.

"No I used to I was let go a little while back" Lee answered. Although he was not actually fired but rather not able to go to work after killing the state senator and traumatizing his now ex-wife,who he had no idea where she was during all this.

"That's too bad we'll I'm sure you will be able to get back on your feet" Katjaa said.

"Yeah see ya" Lee said as he walked away. Lee knew it was selfish and wrong to think this but he couldn't help it. He secretly wished that the world will never get better.

Rick was walking towards the barn to talk to Hershel who was in there with a pitchfork."You know Hershel this farm is a nice plot of land" Rick admired.

"If you were to tell me thirty years ago that I'd still be doing this I would have told you that you were full of crap. Never was the plan owning this place but it was in the family and I guess so was I. My dad owned this place,I grew up on this farm but I never liked it. I wanted to be a veterinarian so that's what I did,working on creatures great and small was my calling and I did it for years. After my wife died my practice fell apart. She always held up the business end all I did was work on the animals. I couldn't do much of anything without her."

"I'm sorry to hear that" Rick said.

Hershel continued on "It was my father's dying wish that I would come back and work on the farm. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Family's important it's all that matters you agree with that?"

"Was brought up to yes" Rick answered.

"So where's your family now?"

"My wife Lori is in Atlanta with my son Carl".

"So that's why you're heading to Atlanta" Hershel said.

"Yeah it is" "So how long have you been back here at the farm?" Rick asked.

"I've been at this for five years now. It's honest work,I can see why my dad loved it so much. There's nothing like quite like living off the land providing for yourself knowing exactly where every piece of food you eat comes from."

"It's certainly come in handy in light of current events." Rick added.

"Hell yeah it has plus I can use my love of taking care of animals help"

They both smiled at each other until they heard a blood curtailing scream. "AAAAAAHHHHH"

"What" Rick said as they both ran outside.

"GO! I'll get my gun" Hershel yelled as he ran towards the house while Rick ran in the other direction towards the scream.

Earlier Lee heard the same scream and went and saw Shawn's leg pinned down by the wheel while two walkers leaned against the unenforced fence. "HELP!" He yelled.

Duck was still on the tractor looking down at what he had done until a third walker grabbed him by his shoulders its teeth almost reaching Duck's neck while he screamed. "AAAAHHHH"

Lee had to make a choice save Shawn or Duck. He had only a second to make it and in that second he thought about how Duck was a child and ran towards him.

Lee not knowing what to do punched the walker in the face but it still would not let go of Duck. Over where Shawn was Maggie had gotten there she was pulling on his arm trying to help him get out. Lacey had grabbed Rachael and Susie and were getting them in the house to make sure that they will not see their brother die. Beth was not far babbling like a lost kitty not knowing what to do,Arnold was running down the field yelling "NO NOT MY BROTHER! NOT MY BROTHER!"

Clementine was hiding behind Katjaa's thigh not wanting to see this. Meanwhile Kenny came out of nowhere and jumped onto the tractor trying to pull his son away form the creeper. Lee stepped onto the tractor as well trying to help Kenny.

Rick came up running holding a pistol from the bag of guns "MOVE AWAY!" He yelled. Kenny and Lee moved slightly to the left so Rick puts the barrel of the gun between the walkers eyes and pulls the the trigger making fall dead to the ground. Kenny then immediately grabbed Duck into his arms and put him on the ground. By then Arnold had gotten to where Shawn was and was making him scream more as he was was pushing the tractor off of his possibly broken leg.

"Hurry!" Shawn yelled as Arnold pushed the tractor and Maggie was pulling him out.

Shawn was almost out but then the fence gave in the the creepers landed on top of him. One of them bit him on his leg,the other in his neck shoulder area. Arnold and Maggie slowly backed away,then Hershel came running holding a shotgun. As he saw what was happening to his son he quickly shot both of the creepers. First the one on his leg as it looked up from it's meal the second one the one on his neck got its brains splattered on a piece of the fence.

Hershel knelled down to his son who was still coughing so Hershel still had some sort of hope he could save his son.

"Shawn" He said his voice shaky.

Shawn looked up at his father with an unfocused stare "Dad?" He barely uttered.

"Don't worry son I can heal you just like all those times when you were baby you can live"

"N-o...dad no"

"What do you mean no don't give up on me dear god please don't give up on me" Hershel said tearing up "You'll be alright".

"I...love...you dad"

"I love you too son" Hershel said now full crying. Hershel hugged his son one last time before he passed in his arms.

"It was silent for a long time. Not a single sound was heard except for Beth crying while Jimmy held her tight.

"Get out" This was uttered by Hershel. Then he rose to his feet "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!

"I'm sorry" Kenny said softly.

"SORRY!?" "Your son is alive you don't get to be sorry!"

He then turned to Lee and Rick "And you two! You two didn't even try to help"

"I was worried about the boy" Lee said.

"Look at him" Hershel said pointing to Shawn's corpse "But you weren't worried about that!"

"Now get out and never come back!" Hershel hissed.

"You can't do this!" Rick chimed in. "Do you know how hard it is out there how far Atlanta is!?"

"Not. My. Problem. I've got to look out for my family."

"At least let us stay the night" Rick said "Just try to look at it with a new perspective".

"What other perspective is there other then you killed my son".

"We have kids with us" Rick argued.

"I want you out of here!" Hershel said as he put his shotgun to Rick's head "Right now"

"Hershel what the fuck!" Otis said as he moved Hershel's shotgun from Rick's head.

"I want them to leave Otis" Hershel argued.

"Fine we're leaving" Lee said.

Rick,Lee,Kenny,Duck,Katjaa,and Clementine all looked at each other.

"You got a ride to Atlanta if you want it" Kenny said as he Katjaa and Duck walked off and Rick Lee and Clementine soon followed.

As they were walking towards Kenny's truck they heard a shot. Must be Hershel putting Shawn down so he doesn't turn they all thought without a word.

When they got to the pickup truck they all went into their places. Kenny in the drivers seat,Katjaa in the passenger seat,Clem and Duck in the middle and Lee and Rick in the back.

And now they head to Atlanta


	7. Ruins

**You're probably wondering why I uploaded a chapter so soon after that update. I don't know I just felt like it.**

The Walking Dead Journey Volume/Season/Episode 1 The Journey Begins

2 months into apocalypse Fall/Autumn

The drive was silent not a single word was said as Kenny drove the truck through the street. Rick and Lee in the back looked at the trees as they passed by. The leaves were all different colors,mostly browns and reds,they came off with a gust of wind so Rick and Lee guessed it was fall. How long into fall they had no idea of.

"Holy shit" They heard Kenny say in the front as the truck started to slow down.

"What is it?" Rick asked as he and Lee turned around.

No answer had to be said as they saw what was ahead. There were thousands of cars lined up in some sort of traffic jam like formation. They could see the tall buildings of Atlanta all the way from the truck.

"Try cutting through the grass" Lee suggested to Kenny as there seemed to be no other way to get to the city.

Kenny drove through the grass running over several bumps along the way. When they got close to the city they noticed that the entrances to the city were barricaded up. Luckily there was a hole in the barricade just big enough for the truck to enter through.

Although not a word was said they all thought the same thing. _Where is everyone? The military was supposed to be protecting this place._ They were just barely in the city when the truck suddenly stopped.

"Well this is as far as we're going" Kenny sighed. He didn't need to tell Rick and Lee what the problem was,out of gas just like the police car.

"Then it's far enough" Lee said trying to bring hope to the small group.

They entered the city and began looking around,this didn't look anything like a safe zone. The stores that lined the streets had the front glass broken and the stuff looted. They passed a landed helicopter and several tanks.

"The hell happened here?" Kenny asked out loud.

"Looks like the dead won" Lee guessed.

Rick was doing his best trying to stay calm. His wife and son were supposed to be here,and it was in ruins. Even if they were alive Rick had no way of knowing where they ran off too. And then there was the chance that they were...

 _No_ Rick told himself in his head. They had to be here,they just had to be.

"Look" Duck suddenly said.

They all turned towards what Duck was talking about and saw what appeared to be a man wearing a blue jumpsuit crouched behind a car.

"Oh thank god" Rick whispered to himself,grateful that there was someone here. "Hey!" Rick called to the man."This is supposed to be the safe zone right?"

The man looked up and was revealed to be a walker eating dead human body parts. The walker moaned at them and began to get up towards them.

"Fuck!" Rick called.

Suddenly a whole swarm of walkers coming from all ends of the street from their hiding places.

"We're trapped!" Katjaa cried as she surveyed the area.

Lee turned towards Rick "Rick hand me a gun!" He said motioning towards the bag of guns Rick had on his back.

Rick quickly through a pistol at Lee and another one for Kenny,along with one for himself.

"Duck get behind me!" Kenny sad to his son as he began firing.

"You too Clem" Lee said to Clementine as she obeyed.

Katjaa not knowing how to fire a gun just stood behind her husband as the three men were killing the creepers.

The walkers just kept coming,no matter how many times they shot them they just kept coming. Now they were sure that this place was no safe zone.

Rick knew that they couldn't just waste ammo like this,they had to get out of there. He tuned towards the way they came but saw that walkers were coming from there too.

"Fuck" He whispered to himself. Then he saw a door connected to a large building and saw his chance.

He turned to Lee "I'm gonna clear the path there" Rick said as he pointed to the door.

"Okay" Lee responded.

Rick then began tearing up the street shooting walkers while he did. He got to the door and tried to open it when...It wouldn't open!

Lee looked and saw this. Just then walkers began to swarm towards Rick.

"Kenny!" Lee said to the man next to him getting his attention "We need to help Rick" He said as he put his gun up towards the walkers by Rick.

"Shit!" Kenny said as he did the same.

They began shooting at the walkers while Rick shot the ones near him as well trying to find a way out.

"AAAAAHHHHH" They heard Duck scream.

They turned and saw that when they were distracted with Rick a walker had knocked Duck on the ground.

"AHH! NO!" Duck yelled.

Before Lee or Kenny could shoot the walker a shot from seemingly out of nowhere came and killed the beast,yet Duck still got up covered in walker goo. When Lee looked up he could see that the shooter was a woman with short brown hair.

Behind her a man of Asian decent yelled "Run come on!" While Kenny lifted the creeper off of his son.

Lee then remembered about Rick. He turned and saw Rick climbing on top of a nearby tank and going into it to get away from the walkers surrounding him.

"Rick!" Lee called to his friend.

"Let's go" The woman yelled to Lee as the walkers began to come after them.

Lee didn't want to leave Rick behind,but he knew that he had to keep Clementine safe and that the walkers were going to kill them. So with the comfort of knowing that Rick was safe in the tank he Kenny,Kat,Duck and Clem all followed the two new people.

Lori sat in a lawn chair in the grass at the camp. She always had wanted to explore the great outdoors,but right now it wasn't so great. Dale was still perched on top of the RV keeping watch,Carl was playing in the dirt with Carol's daughter Sophia and Shane was off somewhere in the woods doing who know what.

Suddenly Andrea came up to her holding a red bucket,Andrea was a young woman with blonde hair much like her sister Amy. Though unlike Any,who wore her hair down,Andrea had hers tied up in a ponytail and had freckles on her cheeks.

Andrea put down the bucket which contained berries and mushrooms which Andrea was out collecting. "Your turn" She said to Lori "My feet hurt"

Lori rolled her eyes "Of course they do"

"Oh bite me" Andrea said playfully as Lori took he bucket,putting the berries and mushrooms in a separate bowl.

"Hey Dale" Lori called to the old man on the RV getting his attention "I'm going out can you watch Carl?" She asked.

"Sure" Dale called.

Lori then turned towards her son "Honey stay where Dale can see you okay?"

"Okay mom" Carl responded.

"That goes for you too" Dale called "Don't wander too far off. If you see anything just holler I'll come running"

Lori smiled as she walked away. Sometimes Dale could seem like a gruff old man like Larry,but deep down he was a nice man who cared about everyone.

Lori went into the woods and found some mushrooms. She picked them hoping none of them were hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Suddenly she heard a leaf snap and she quickly got up and looked around. After a solid minute she finally went back to picking the mushrooms. Then out of nowhere she was tackled to the the ground,she began struggling until she saw who it was.

Shane was on top of her while Lori was on her back,he spoke "Did I surprise ya?" He asked with a smile.

Lori giggled "You scared me" She said as she playfully slapped him "Where were you?" She asked.

"Just waiting for you come out here alone" Shane replied as he took off his shirt.

Lori began to undo his belt and Shane finished the job. He in turn unbuttoned her pants and took them off reveling her white panties.

Shane began to take off her shirt and licked her stomach making Lori let out a slight moan. Just then a thought popped in her head.

"Are we far away enough from the camp?" She asked.

They hadn't told anyone about their relationship and she was worried that someone might hear them or walk in on them.

Shane however wasn't worried as much "We'll be fine" He said as he took off her shirt the rest of the way leaving her in her matching bra and panties.

They both lay there,Shane on top of her and no one else around. Both in nothing but their underwear,only one step left.

Lee followed the two strangers left into an alley. As they got here everyone stopped to take their breath.

"You guys are such dumbasses" The Asian man said to Lee and Kenny.

"Why do you say that?" Lee asked.

"Because you're in the street shooting attracting every roamer in Atlanta" The girl answered.

"Roamers?" Kenny snorted "Is that what you call them"

"Yeah our whole group does" The man said "Anyway my name is Glenn"

"And I'm Carley" The woman said.

"I'm Lee" Lee replied.

"Kenny" Kenny followed "This is my wife Katjaa and my son Duck" Kenny said motioning towards the two.

"Well let's go" Carley said as she walked towards a nearby latter.

"We can't leave" Lee said.

"Why not?" Glenn questioned.

"Because our friend is trapped in a tank back there" Kenny answered.

"Wait seriously?" Glenn questioned.

"Yeah" Lee responded.

"Well how are we supposed to get him out?" Carley asked.

"I'm not sure" Lee answered "I just-" Suddenly it hit him,he still had that walkie talkie he talked to Clementine on back in her house.

"Tanks have radios right?" Lee asked everyone.

"Um...I guess?" Glenn responded confused.

Lee took out the walkie and hoped that the tank was close enough to pick up the signal.

Rick jumped into the tank and quickly closed the latch behind him. Sweat was dripping down his face as he lay on the cold surface of the tank. Suddenly he heard moaning and saw a walker sitting down next to him wearing a military uniform.

Rick immediately shot it but since the sound had nowhere to go it echoed throughout the tank making Rick cover his ears in pain.

Rick didn't know what to do. He could still hear the sea of walkers outside the tank,and where was everyone else? Had they abandoned him? Was this it? Was he going to die?

" _Rick?"_ He heard a voice.

"What?" Rick wondered.

" _Rick? Are you there?"_ The voice called again.

Rick looked around and saw a radio and realized that the voice was coming from there. He quickly crawled and to it and spoke into it.

"Hello?" Rick asked the voice.

" _Rick? Oh thank god"_ Now that he was right next to the voice Rick could tell who it was.

"Lee?" Rick questioned the voice.

" _Yeah"_ Lee answered.

"What happened? Where are you?" Rick asked.

" _We're in an alley just left of you,we met some people named Glenn and Carley they saved us"_

" _Listen here"_ Rick heard a new voice that he never heard before say. It was a mans voice and since Carley was a feminine name he assumed that it was this Glenn fellow.

Glenn continued on _"Like Lee told you we're just left of you,and we're going to help you get here"_

"Thank you" Rick thanked the stranger.

" _No Problem"_ Glenn responded _"Okay how many shots do you have left?"_

"Give me a second" Rick said before putting the radio down.

He took out his pistol and looked at how many bullets he had. 12 shots. He then went over the the military walker and looked to see if it had any bullets. He found a hand grenade but no bullets.

He pocketed the grenade and went back over to the radio.

"Only twelve shots left" Rick spoke.

"Try to make them count" Glenn said "We'll try to meet up with you"

"Alright" Rick said as he put down the radio.

Rick breathed heavily and mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do. He had to get to Lori and Carl,and he couldn't do that dead. So he got up,unlatched the entrance of the tank,and got out.

 **Next chapter will be longer.**


	8. A Way Out And A Way Back In

The Walking Dead Journey Volume/Season/Episode 1 The Journey begins

2 months into apocalypse Fall/Autumn

Rick sprinted up onto the top of the tank and got off without even thinking. A walker lunched at him and he shot it,another one came and he shot that one too. He couldn't stop for a second he just ran,counting the amount of bullets he had left in his head.

" _9...8...7...6"_ He counted.

As he got to where he just had to turn left to get to the others he got grabbed and looked and saw an Asian man and Lee.

"COME ON!" The Asian man (Which Rick assumed to be Glenn) shouted.

They turned left and got to the alley and Rick saw everyone else.

"Up the ladder come on!" Carley yelled as the walkers came closer.

Clementine went up first,quickly followed by Duck,then Katjaa followed by Kenny and Glenn. Lee and Carley were shooting the oncoming walkers and when Rick started to go up Lee turned to the woman.

"Go!" He said to her.

"You go first!" Carley insisted.

'Why?" Lee asked.

Carley motioned down to the lower half of her body and Lee saw that she was wearing a skirt,so if she went first...

"Oh" Lee said before he proceeded to climb up the ladder. With Carley soon following.

They all stood at the roof of the building looking down at the endless sea of roamers still trying to reach them.

"What if they climb up?" Rick questioned.

"They can't" Glenn said "Trust me"

"Alright then" Rick said.

"What happened to the safe zone?" Lee asked.

"The safe zone?" Carley questioned "There never was a safe zone" She said.

Lee sighed "Yeah I figured as much"

"But we do have a camp outside the city" Glenn said.

"Really?" Kenny (Who had been quiet this whole time) spoke.

"We can take you there" Glenn said "Follow me"

Glenn opened a roof entrance and jumped into it making the other follow. They walked downstairs of the building and got to the bottom floor which had a door with a desk up against it.

"Why is there a desk against the door?" Lee questioned.

"We have a few entrances blocked so the roamers can't get in" Carley answered.

"Wait" Rick said "That's why the door wouldn't open!" Rick said thinking back to the event that got him stuck in that tank in the first place.

"Yeah...Sorry about that" Glenn apologized.

Rick sighed "It's fine"

Glenn turned to everyone "We're going to have to go as fast as we can to a nearby alley to get to some other members of our group" He said "We need to stick together and can't fall behind"

Carley stepped in "That might be difficult for the kids so you two **(She pointed to Kenny and Lee)** might want to hold your kids"

"Alright come on Duck" Kenny said picking up his son.

Lee felt kinda awkward about this "Actually she's not my daughter" He said.

"Well you can still pick her up" Glenn said.

"Um...Okay" Lee said as he turned to Clem.

As Clementine went into his arms she looked at him "Don't drop me okay?" She said.

Lee smiled. He had always wanted kids but...He never got the chance.

"Don't worry,I won't" He said to her.

Carley turned to Rick and handed him some bullets "You and I are going to have to fend off the roamers"

"Alright" Rick said taking the bullets and putting them into his gun.

Carley turned to Katjaa "You know how to shoot a gun?"

"Um no" Kat answered.

"Alright so just stay behind us" Carley told her and Katjaa nodded.

Glenn turned to everyone "Remember just follow me" He said while everyone nodded.

Glenn then pushed the desk away and opened the door. They were greeted by the haunting sounds of the walkers as they all sprinted out.

To Lee it was all a blur. He remembered running,his legs burning but he couldn't stop. Not for a second. Clementine had her head in Lee's shoulder,covering her ears,he could feel her tight grip. Beside him Kenny was running alongside him holding Duck like Lee held Clementine,Katjaa not far behind. Lee could hear the gunshots coming from Rick's and Carley's guns stopping the rotting corpses from getting them.

But Lee didn't see any of it. He was focused on following Glenn to wherever they were going. But it all seemed to be in slow motion,he tried running faster but his legs wouldn't let him.

Glenn dove into an alley and everyone else followed him. He went up to a door and grabbed the handle,it wouldn't open.

"COME ON OPEN UP!" Glenn exclaimed.

They head the moving of and desk and then everyone rushed in. Rick was holding his chest,gasping for air. Rick wondered if he was too old to survive in this world,he always thought that he was only 40. But now he could see that there was no only about it.

Lee put down Clementine and looked behind him. Standing there was a Hispanic man and a black woman,they were moving a desk back in front of the door.

"What happened out there?" The Hispanic man questioned after he and the woman were done moving the desk.

Glenn was trying to catch his breath. "We were out there and we heard gunshots"

"And then we had to go and save these people" Carley finished.

"God dammit" The black woman said. "I guess this whole trip was a waste"

"Why do you say that?" Rick asked.

"Because of all that shooting we're boxed in with no way to get out!" Carley said aggressively.

"Calm down Carley" Glenn said. He then turned to Rick Kenny and Lee. "Anyways this is Morales and Jacqui" He said pointing the two new people.

"Hello" Lee greeted. "Sorry about drawing the walkers here"

"Yeah" Rick agreed.

Before anyone could say anything else they all heard a shot.

"Is that Merle?" Carley questioned.

"The idiot is going to get us all killed" Jacqui said as they all began to run up the stairs.

"Wait who's Merle?" Lee asked as he followed them.

"Just some idiot we're straddled with" Morales answered.

Merle Dixon was a man in his forties,a military veteran who right now was high as a kite,shooting the roamers on the ground with a rifle.

"Hey Merle are you crazy?!" Merle heard Morales yell. He turned around to see the rest of the group behind him.

"Hey you should be more polite to a man with a gun" Merle said turning around to face them. "Only common sense" He smiled showing his yellow teeth.

"Everyone just calm down" Lee spoke,trying to be the mediator.

Merle just then noticed the six new people. "Who the hell are they?" He questioned.

"They're some people we found" Glenn answered. "We're bringing them back to the camp"

"Oh great" Merle whined. "I already got taco bender on my ass all the time" He said motioning to Morales. "Now I gotta deal with-" He cut himself off as he stared at Duck,who was still covered in walker goo.

Merle then turned to the rest of the group. "You guys saved an already bitten kid?" Merle said.

"He wasn't bitten" Rick spoke up.

"Like hell he wasn't" Merle said. "We can't take these people back to the camp" He argued. "Not unless we kill the kid"

"Over my dead body!" Kenny yelled,getting in front of his son.

Merle smiled. "We'll dig one hole"

"No there's not bite he's fine" Katjaa pleaded as she cleaned her son.

"See it's fine" Lee said.

Merle snorted. "Of course a mother would say that" He said. "We can't trust a fucking thing she says"

"Come on Merle it's just a kid" Morales said.

"You won't be saying that when he makes an enchilada out of you" Merle said. "Now enough wasting time. We need to throw this boy out,that or smash his head in"

"Shut your mouth!" Rick cut in. "Or else"

"Or what?" Merle chuckled. "You gonna kick my ass?" He asked sarcastically. "That's good. You and what homo parade?"

"This one!" Kenny yelled getting in his face.

"Everyone chill the fuck out!" Carley yelled.

"Shut the fuck up whore" Merle insulted. "Y'all are a bunch of pussies. Pretty soon he's going to turn into a roamer and then kill us all"

"The hell you talking about?" Kenny asked.

"He's bitten" Merle argued. "That's how you turn!" He yelled.

"He's not bitten!" Rick yelled.

"He is and I'm taking care of it now"

"I'm gonna kill him Kat" Kenny said to his wife. "Just worry about Duck"

Merle smiled. "Hey little boy!" He said to Duck. "Before you eat your mommy you can watch your dad get his nose broken"

Rick was about to speak when suddenly Lee (Who had been quit) erupted.

"NO!" Lee yelled getting Merle's attention. "I've got a little girl I'm trying to protect here too and you won't touch that boy! You won't touch anybody!"

Merle chuckled. "That'll be the day" He spoke.

"What's that supposed mean?" Lee questioned.

"You wanna know?" Merle asked. "That'll be the day I take orders from a nigger"

It took Lee every single bit of restraint not to choke Merle out at that very moment. Kenny on the other hand,had enough. He swung his fist right at Merle's face,unfortunately Merle saw it coming and was ducked. He them hit Kenny in the face with the rifle that he still carried,knocking Kenny to the ground.

"Hey Merle that's enough!" Morales yelled as Merle threw the rifle on the ground and began kicking Kenny in the ribs.

Rick tried to attack Merle but got punched in the jaw,knocking him to the ground where he hit his head on the ground. Seeing that Merle was distracted,Kenny got up and tried to punch him once again. But Merle saw it coming and punched Kenny in the face. Kenny then hit his head on the metal pipes and fell back in the ground.

"Kenny!" Katjaa cried as she tried to shield Duck's eyes.

Morales tried to grab Merle but got kicked in the stomach. All air escaped his body as he backed away holding his belly.

Merle sat on top of Kenny and took out a pistol from the back of his pants,aiming it at the delirious man. Katjaa watched in helpless horror,shaking,hoping that her husband wouldn't get shot. Duck could feel tears filling his eyes as his face was held against his mother's shirt.

Merle smiled at Kenny. "Is that seriously all you got?" He asked him. "Are you sure that's your son? Because I don't see how you could have gotten your wife pregnant without any balls"

Lee had enough. He was tired of this. He blindsided Merle and punched him in the face,making him drop the pistol. Katjaa ran to her husband's side the second after.

"Oh" Merle said after he got his head back together. "So,it's your turn to get your ass beat"

"You wanna get violent you old fuck?!" Lee taunted. "Well then come on! You better have a plan to kill me though because it's me before anyone else here!"

Then Merle lost his cocky attitude. "You must got a death wish or something spear-chucker" He said dripping with racism.

Merle charged at Lee,hitting him in the neck,making Lee stagger back. Merle began to ram his fist at Lee's face,but he was able to dodge it and punch Merle in the stomach.

"OOOOOFFFFF!" Merle cried.

"Are you-" Lee began but was cut off as Merle kicked him in the shin. "AAAAAHHHHHH!" He cried.

Merle didn't waste a second,he began to punch Lee in the face multiple times.

Rick began to regain his senses. He looked up and saw his friend Lee getting hit by Merle in a flurry of punches.

"You motherfuckers are a bunch of cowards" Merle said. "Too pussy to do what has to be done"

Rick's eyes turned to the rifle that Merle had dropped,he shakily got to his feet and picked it up.

"I on the other hand,will do what ever I have too" Merle said as he grabbed Lee by the neck and raised his fist.

"Hey" Rick spoke,making Merle turn his head. He was met with Rick slamming the rifle in his face,knocking him to the ground.

Lee quickly took out the handcuffs that he was handcuffed with in the hospital and grabbed Merle's hand and handcuffed him to a nearby pipe.

"What the fuck?! Merle exclaimed as he regained his senses.

"Alright Merle" Rick spoke. "We're gonna talk,without the threat of you killing a child" He said as he picked up the pistol that Merle dropped.

"Who the hell are you?!" Merle questioned as he struggled against the handcuff.

"Officer friendly" Rick answered sarcastically.

Lee looked towards Kenny. "You alright?" He asked his friend.

"Yeah I'm fine" Kenny responded as he leaned against the side of the of the barrier around the roof.

Rick crouched down next to Merle (Who had since stopped struggling) and spoke. "Listen here Merle,things are different now. There are no niggers anymore,no dumb as shit inbred white trash fools either" Rick said. "We survive by pulling together,not apart"

"Screw you man" Merle responded in a not caring tone.

"I see you make a habit of missing the point" Lee cut in.

"Yeah well screw you too" Merle then turned to Rick "And screw you twice"

"You really enjoy being an asshole don't you" Rick said.

"What are you gonna do? Arrest me?" Merle chuckled.

"You should be more polite to a man with a gun" He said as he put the gun to Merle's head. "Only common sense"

Merle looked at Rick and noticed the sheriff outfit,he smiled. "You're a cop. You ain't gonna do shit"

"All I am anymore is a man looking for his wife and son" Rick said proudly. "It would best for you to remember that"

Merle went silent and looked away. Rick sighed in annoyance. Out of habit he patted Merle's pocket when he felt something. He reached in and pulled out a crack pipe. He got up and walked away with it in his hand.

"Hey man that's my stuff!" Merle called as Rick walked away.

Rick went to the edge of the building and threw the pipe as hard as he could.

"You motherfucker!" Merle yelled as he began to struggle again. "When I get free you better run! You hear me?!"

"Your voice carries" Lee responded. "So yeah I think he can"

Merle flipped Lee off with a scowl.

Morales went up to Rick who was still looking out at the city. "That was pretty intense" He said. "But you and your friend handled it pretty well"

"Yeah well I used to be a cop" Rick responded. "I'm trained to dissolve conflicts"

"And I used to be a teacher" Lee said as he walked up. "I always had to calm down my students"

"Did you always beat the shit out of your students?" Glenn questioned.

"Not on a good day" Lee chuckled.

"Where are you guys from anyway?" Jacqui questioned.

Lee was about to say Macon until Rick spoke "We're from up the road away" Rick answered vaguely. He didn't know these people,he had no real reason to believe that they weren't just like Merle.

"Well officer friendly from up the road away" Morales spoke. "Welcome to the big city"

"What the hell happened here?" Kenny spoke as he stood up. "Why is the city overrun?" He questioned.

"We aren't sure" Glenn spoke. "It got overrun pretty quickly. By the time most of us got here there was no military left"

"Yeah" Carley said. "The only ones in our group who would know anything about that are Jim and Doug who got out of the city. But they don't like to talk about it much"

"Wait" Rick spoke. "People in your group got out of the city?"

"Yeah" Glenn said.

"That means that maybe Lori and Carl got out" Rick said to himself. He had no way of finding them,but at least they were safe. Tears began to fill his eyes,as he thought about never being able to play football with Carl again,never getting to kiss Lori again.

Lee thought about this too. The drugstore that his parents ran (And that his brother worked at) Wasn't too far from here. He knew that his family would probably chose to be holed up there instead of going anywhere. So they were either there,or they were dead. If they were alive,how could he face them after what happened. After he killed the state senator his parents never visited him in jail,his brother did once and he said that they were pretty pissed at him. Lee hadn't seen them in over a year and he wondered if it was too late to be allowed back in the family.

Merle snorted. "The city got overrun because the military became of bunch of pussies" He said. "Let me tell you,if I hadn't been kicked out and was still in the army this city would be safe and you all would be sitting you asses down and eating fresh biscuits. So you're welcome"

"You're welcome?" Kenny replied with a scornful tone. "YOU'RE FUCKING WELCOME?!"

"Kenny calm down" Rick said.

"Yeah man" Merle said. "I'm just telling it like it is" He turned to Carley "Ain't that right sugar tits?"

Carley rolled her eyes.

"Why you looking at me like that?" Merle asked. "Why don't you and I go out on the town. Get that skirt off you"

Carley blushed slightly "You're such a fucking pig" She said.

"Come one,we're gonna die anyway"

"I'd rather" She replied.

Merle snorted. "Rug muncher,figured as much"

At that point everyone could practically see steam coming from Kenny's head.

"Please calm down Kenny" Katjaa said,grabbing his hand.

Kenny sighed and sat back down.

"I think that we're ignoring the big problem here" Jacqui said. "We're stuck in this department building surrounded by thousands of roamers with no way to get back to camp"

"Jacqui's right" Morales said. "We need to find someway to get back to camp before we starve to death up here"

Glenn ran to the edge of the building and looked over. "Son of a bitch" He said.

"What is it?" Lee questioned.

"I don't see any manholes" Glenn responded. "Must be over where the roamers are"

"So we have no way of getting into the sewers?" Rick asked. He thought that it might have been a good idea.

"Actually" Jacqui spoke. "Old buildings like this were constructed with an entrench to the sewer in case of a fire" She said matter-of-factly.

"Well shit" Kenny said. "Everydays a school day"

"How do you know that?" Lee questioned.

"I used to be a zoning department worker" Jacqui explained. "So I used to work with a lot of old buildings like this" She said. "It should be in the basement"

"Well then let's go" Carley said.

Kenny began to stand up but fell down as his hand moved to his side.

"What's wrong?" Rick asked as Katjaa ran to his side.

"My ribs" Kenny said. "They hurt"

"My bad" Merle said with a smile.

"Then you should stay here and rest Ken" Lee said.

"Yeah alright" Kenny complied.

Lee turned to Clementine. "Clem you should stay here with Kenny Katjaa and Duck"

"Actually Lee" Rick spoke up. "I think that you should here too"

"What?" Lee was surprised. "Why?"

"Well first of all you have some bruises on your face" He was right,Lee's face was bruised in multiple places,the most prominent being a mark on his upper cheek.

"Also my bad" Merle said.

"Also you should stay here to make sure Kenny doesn't kill Merle" Rick said. "Take a key" Rick handed Lee a handcuff key.

Lee sighed. "You're right" He said. "Here take this walkie talkie" He said handing him one of the walkie talkies from Clementine's house. "If anything happens radio back and I'll come to help"

"Alright then" Rick said.

Rick,Morales,Carley,Jacqui and Glenn began to walk down the stairs while Lee sat next to Kenny and Clementine next to him.


End file.
